Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 318,792 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,235 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.09% of Estee Lauder Companies worth $46,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 8,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 2,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Finally, Perennial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 64.3% in the 2nd quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.98% of the company’s stock.

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In other Estee Lauder Companies news, EVP Alexandra C. Trower sold 4,781 shares of Estee Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.02, for a total transaction of $693,340.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,695,051.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg sold 13,759 shares of Estee Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.54, for a total value of $2,098,797.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,795.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 262,907 shares of company stock valued at $37,950,946. 16.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Shares of EL opened at $137.12 on Friday. Estee Lauder Companies Inc has a one year low of $121.93 and a one year high of $158.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $51.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.65.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 31st. The company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.19. Estee Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 38.29% and a net margin of 8.48%. The company had revenue of $3.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Estee Lauder Companies Inc will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 30th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a boost from Estee Lauder Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Estee Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 38.14%.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EL shares. Zacks Investment Research cut Estee Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Estee Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $138.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 15th. Piper Jaffray Companies set a $156.00 price objective on Estee Lauder Companies and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $146.77.

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